As we prepare to release book 3, I thought I’d share a couple snippets of Book 1 and 2, so here’s some of DEATH BOUND (Modern Necromancy Book 2). Here goes!
DEATH BOUND (And book 1 is Now in Audio)
Chapter 2: Body Snatched
Tess jumped up, charging Rohan, and then she was on him, clawing and screaming, a silver glow emanating from her skin.
Rohan pushed her and held her at arm’s length, but she swiped his arm away, pushing it aside as if it were nothing. Supernatural strength! He hadn’t expected that.
He couldn’t strike her. Even if Altemus was inside her, it would hurt Tess, and she was innocent.
They stumbled backward and collided with a wall.
Something metallic hit him on the head, and suddenly the room was spinning and he was on the floor.
Pots and pans clanged around him, and seeing blood on one of them, he realized that must have been what hit him.
Hands were around his throat. He grunted as Tess spoke, and this time it was Anne Altemus’s voice that said, “You tried to destroy us. But we waited, we recovered our strength, and now it’s us who will destroy everything you care about.”
She pinned Rohan to the floor and he felt another presence, dark and cold.
With a thrust of his hips, Rohan twisted out from under her and tried to scramble for the door.
A pot hit him in the leg and he stumbled, and then Anne was on him again, slamming his head against the floor.
“You can’t resist us!” she shouted, and again Rohan felt the cold presence in his body, seeping into his skin like rain, then through his bones, chilling him.
A spirit was taking over, inhabiting him.
Rohan focused all of his energy on expelling it, forcing it out. He thought about summoning spirits of his own from the afterlife, but he didn’t have the power anymore. He couldn’t make a sacrifice right now to summon them—and he didn’t want to.
A deep, familiar voice sounded in Rohan’s head. “We’re a few steps ahead of you, Rohan. Did you think we’d forget about you after all we’ve been through?”
Tess’s lips contorted into an evil grin as Anne’s satisfied laughter mixed with Tess’s beautiful voice. Rohan wanted to rip the hag out of Tess and destroy her.
“We’ve been hard at work,” Altemus’s voice said. Rohan felt it in every part of his body, as if it was vibrating through his bones. “You destroyed our physical bodies. But we learned to harness our energy, to take over bodies. And now it’s your turn to suffer.”
Rohan screamed as he felt pressure swell in head.
He refocused, pushing Altemus out of his body in a bright, violet wisp. Altemus roared, a translucent beam of light hovering next to Tess.
Rohan was winded, but in a flash he dashed for the door.
“After him!” Altemus shouted as Rohan flung himself down the stairs and then out into the night.
He had to find help. Surely there must be someone around, someone who could help. But as he burst into the night, he realized there was no one. At least, no one who could exorcise and vanish an evil spirit from the afterlife.
It was up to him.
He escaped down a side street and sprinted until he reached a stone retaining wall with a park in the distance. The wall was easy to jump, but the park wasn’t exactly the best hiding spot, with its wide-open landscaping and sparse trees.
A cold wind blew, accompanied by a sudden shock as Altemus flashed before him.
Footsteps sounded from the rear, and Rohan turned to see Tess jumping over the wall. She landed on her knees, then looked up at him with glowing eyes and a false-friendly grin.
“You’re only postponing the inevitable,” Altemus said.
“Or maybe you aren’t as strong as you think,” Rohan retorted.
WHACK!
Tess swept out Rohan’s legs and forced him down with his arm twisted behind his back. His face had hit the grass hard, and he tasted blood
“It’s time,” Tess said, her face inches from his. He could still smell her sweet perfume. “Every time you struggle, you’ll get a taste of this.” She brought her knee into his back and twisted hard on his arm.
“Aghh!” Rohan shouted. A couple across the park stopped to look, but quickly moved on.
“Are you ready, my love?” Tess asked, looking up at Altemus. Rohan had to keep reminding himself that it was Anne speaking, not Tess.
“Our destiny changes right here, at this moment,” Altemus replied.
The cold returned to Rohan’s head, and again he fought it. But each time he did, Tess twisted his arm harder, weakening his resolve.
He couldn’t keep fighting.
He had no choice.
He gave up.
Then, with a final wave of cold and a drowning, floating, hopeless sensation, Rohan sensed he was no longer in control of his body. His arms moved without him willing them. His voice, cold and evil, escaped from his lips with words he didn’t think.
“What have you done?” he screamed, but his lips didn’t move. His voice reverberated inside his head, but there was no reply.
It was like a dream—he was in his body, but it was as if he could see it from the outside. He watched himself stand, a wicked smile on his face. Then the two bodies, his now occupied by Altemus and Tess’s occupied by Anne, took each other in an embrace. They held each other and kissed.
Rohan wanted to recoil at the sensation of the two lips against each other.
“You look hideous,” Anne said, laughing.
“So do you, my love,” Altemus replied, brushing his hand across Tess’s face.
Rohan tried to harness his power, but it was no good.
Altemus had taken over his body.
FROM JUSTIN >>> Keeping it short and simple this time. This basically sets up where this book is going — ghosts fighting, possession, and more craziness. It’s going to be even more of a thrill ride than book 1, so hold on tight!
I don’t want to give anything away, but… there’s some cool treasure hunting/ Indiana Jones (Nathan Drake?) stuff going in this book. So if you’re into that, yay!
In other news, I’m working on my third Reclaiming Honor book, JUDGMENT HAS FALLEN, and my sequel to Hounds of God will follow shortly.
If you haven’t read those books, get on them! Haha. Thanks.
If you’ve already read book 1 and 2, don’t miss out on book 3, available for preorder now!
